WASHINGTON (TND) — Workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are reportedly paying the price for the electric vehicle revolution and its promise of a "decarbonized future," facing racism, abuses, and other human rights violations under Chinese mining companies, according to an exclusive investigation by The Guardian.
Congolese workers claim they have been racially discriminated against and beaten, particularly since Chinese companies have entered the mining business.
"We’re being treated in a very bad way by the Chinese. I’m a victim of assault myself. I was slapped across the face four times,” says a worker known as "Mutamba," whose name has been changed to protect his identity.
Another worker described feeling "humiliated" and "embarrassed" as he attended a two-hour meeting in Chinese, only to be given a two-minute translation at the end.
"We are just expecting them to have respect for human life, instead of using people like slaves," the anonymous worker told The Guardian, who also confirmed that Chinese mining companies have been buying out North American and European companies in the last 15 years.
…different worker, who lives in the town of Fungurume, part of Congo's southern mining belt, says he makes the equivalent of $3.50 per day. He gets only two pieces of bread for lunch, and money is deducted from his wages if he takes a day off, or is sick and misses more than 2 days in a month.
